The UFC is back in Asia this week with a former dominant champion at the top of the lineup.
UFC Fight Night 225 takes place Saturday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The event streams on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
Get pick results from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, as well as additional analysis, below.
Parker Porter vs. Junior Tafa
Records: Porter (14-8 MMA, 4-3 UFC), Tafa (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Division: Heavyweight
Betting odds: Tafa (-165), Porter (+140)
Junkie pick results: Tafa 8, Porter 3
Erin Blanchfield vs. Taila Santos
Records: Blanchfield (11-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), Santos (19-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC)
Division: Women’s flyweight
Betting odds: Blanchfield (-140), Santos (+120)
Junkie pick results: Blanchfield 11, Santos 0
Fernie Garcia vs. Rinya Nakamura
Records: Garcia (10-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC), Nakamura (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC)
Division: Bantamweight
Betting odds: Nakamura (-700), Garcia (+500)
Junkie pick results: Nakamura 11, Garcia 0
Alex Caceres vs. Giga Chikadze
Records: Caceres (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC), Chikadze (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC)
Division: Featherweight
Betting odds: Chikadze (-240), Caceres (+195)
Junkie pick results: Chikadze 11, Caceres 0
Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann
Records: Smith (36-18 MMA, 11-8 UFC), Spann (21-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC)
Division: Light heavyweight
Betting odds: Spann (-120), Smith (+105)
Junkie pick results: Spann 10, Smith 1
Max Holloway vs. Chan Sung Jung
Records: Holloway (24-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC), Jung (17-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC)
Division: Featherweight
Betting odds: Holloway (-850), Jung (+520)
Junkie pick results: Holloway 11, Jung 0
Preliminary card picks
Although fights on the prelims don’t count toward the standings in the MMA Junkie staff picks, we still pick each fight. Here are some key results:
Heavyweight prospect Waldo Cortes-Acosta (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is one of two unanimous picks on the seven-fight preliminary card. He’s a -250 favorite against Lukasz Brzeski (8-3-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) to close out the prelims.
And in the second fight on the card, JJ Aldrich (11-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) is an 11-0 pick. She’s more than a 5-1 favorite in her women’s flyweight bout against Liang Na (19-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC).
Toshiomi Kazama (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is a near-unanimous pick in his bantamweight bout against Garrett Armfield (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) – even though Armfield is a -160 favorite in the fight.
Our closest set of picks is the welterweight fight between Rolando Bedoya (14-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Song Kenan (19-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC). Bedoya is a -350 favorite, but Kenan has a 6-5 edge in the picks.
Check out all the main card picks below.
UFC Fight Night 225 main card picks
| Holloway vs. Jung |
Smith vs. Spann |
Caceres vs. Chikadze |
Garcia vs. Nakamura |
Blanchfield vs. Sanatos |
Porter vs. Tafa |
|
|
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 140-86 |
 Holloway (87%) |
 Spann (66%) |
 Chikadze (73%) |
 Nakamura (87%) |
 Blanchfield (76%) |
 Tafa (77%) |
|
Nolan King @mma_kings 142-84 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Simon Samano @SJSamano 140-86 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 139-87  |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
 Porter |
|
Matt Erickson @MattE 137-89 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 136-90 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Porter |
|
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 136-90 |
Holloway |
 Smith |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 134-92 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Brian Garcia @thegoze 132-94 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 132-94 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Porter |
|
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 129-97 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
|
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 127-99 |
Holloway |
Spann |
Chikadze |
Nakamura |
Blanchfield |
Tafa |
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 225.
